ISOBEL
The lounge still smelled like copper.
Joseph's mouth moved. Words came out. I watched his lips form shapes that should have meant something, but the rushing in my ears drowned everything except the sound of my own pulse hammering against my skull.
"There is nothing we can do."
That broke through.
I lifted my head. My neck felt stiff, like I'd been holding it at the wrong angle for hours. "What did you say?"
"Isobel." He reached for me. I jerked back. "There is nothing we can do about this. We have to accept it."
"Accept it?" The words tasted like ash. "Our daughter was murdered. Someone cut her into pieces and sent her back to us in a box like she was garbage, and you want me to accept that?"
"It's more complicated than—"
"No." I stood. The room tilted. I gripped the edge of the table to steady myself. "No, it's not complicated. This is war. They declared war the moment they did this to her."
Joseph's face went pale. "We can't go to war with Lily of the Valley."
